Section 10015 of the legislation precludes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from considering non-pesticidal fluoride as part of sulfuryl fluoride’s aggregate risk assessment, as required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Update: On Jan. 29, the U.S. House of Represenatives passed an almost $100 billion-a-year, compromise farm bill that contains language retaining the food uses for the fumigant sulfuryl fluoride.The vote was 251-166.

Of interest to pest management professionals is Section 10015 of the legislation, which precludes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from considering non-pesticidal fluoride as part of sulfuryl fluoride’s aggregate risk assessment, as required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The provision effectively reverses a proposed order revoking or withdrawing sulfuryl fluoride’s food tolerances that EPA put forward in January of 2011 under the threat of activist group litigation. The activists claimed that sulfuryl fluoride’s tolerances were not permissible because the “risk cup” for sulfuryl fluoride was already filled with fluoride in drinking water and dental care products.

The inclusion of the sulfuryl fluoride provision in the Farm Bill Conference Report represents a significant legislative victory for NPMA — one that would not have been possible without NPMA members lobbying their federal lawmakers about the importance of retaining sulfuryl fluoride’s food uses.

The five-year bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected to send it to the president’s desk.